#GivingTuesday – Dec. 3, 2024
Your generosity fills our hearts
Unite with us to support the sisters and their mission, vision and ministries at Holy Wisdom Monastery. Together, our collective gifts help to sustain Benedictine spirituality, inclusive communities, environmental restoration and offer a welcoming place for all.
Click the video arrow below to hear a message from our Executive Director, Erin Trondson.
Give Today!$15,000 Challenge Gift Received!
ACHIEVED! Thank you everyone who gave early to help us achieve this additional $15k to add to our $15k challenge gift.
Thank you, Terry Larson, for your incredible gift of $15,000! Here is why Terry gives to Holy Wisdom Monastery: “I love giving to Holy Wisdom because I believe that God has blessed me with abundance, and I want to respond with abandon!”
NEW $10,000 Challenge!
Another donor has stepped forward to challenge our community for a second time this #GivingTuesday! This anonymous friend has pledged $10,000 to encourage others to support Holy Wisdom Monastery as well. Here is what they had to say:
“I give generously to Holy Wisdom Monastery because I believe in the mission of prayer, hospitality, justice and care for the earth. I am proud to be part of a caring community that welcomes all who seek to live in greater harmony with others and with our planet. Holy Wisdom Monastery, the Sisters, communities, lands and programs, are here for all of us during this time of profound change. I know that my gift will help this important mission extend into the future.”
Can we raise another $10,000 and rise to the challenge? If 100 people each gave $100, we would reach this goal. Every gift counts, and we hope you’ll consider supporting Holy Wisdom on this day of generosity.
“Somehow the work we do touches a dream within others. It helps others find deeper meaning and it allows each of us to change into our better selves. This is why people give so generously because it is important and meaningful work.”
Your gift changes lives
In 2024, Holy Wisdom Monastery reached an important milestone in our mission to care for the earth.
We became a net-zero energy campus and now produce 100% of our energy needs onsite from renewable resources!
This is important because we are reducing carbon emissions which can cause warming that can trigger extreme weather events.
Your support helps make this work possible.
This #GivingTuesday we invite you to consider a generous gift to finish funding this energy initiative. Your local gift can have a global impact!
Give Today!
Your gift sustains a place where all are welcome
As 2024 draws to a close we ask you to consider Holy Wisdom Monastery in your year-end giving. We rely on individual donors like you to help us weave together the essential threads of our shared life: prayer, hospitality, justice, and care for the earth. We commit to stewarding these gifts in ways that honor our deep historic roots while also nurturing new growth, ensuring this
remains a sanctuary where all are truly welcome.
Community
We build community with all who come to the monastery, both in-person and virtually. In fact, we have multiple communities that make up the Holy Wisdom community.
“As an oblate, Holy Wisdom is indeed an island sanctuary for me. I want it to be a sanctuary of God’s grace and renewal for all those who choose to attend for years to come.”
“Thanks for making Holy Wisdom such a wonderful community for us to belong to. We appreciate the stands you have taken over the years. We love the broad scope of activities on the environment and concerning justice issues especially. We so enjoy our fellow journeyers. We expect to continue to grow with everyone else.”
Prayer & Worship
All people are invited to pray and worship with us. You don’t have to be Christian or religious, but you can be. Some people who grow spiritually at Holy Wisdom never attend a formal service but find a spiritual connection to the land or attend an inspiring program.
“Thank you for your amazing vision over these past 70 years. Holy Wisdom is a model of ecumenical community and spiritual growth for all to see and experience. It is an oasis of hospitality and prayer for which we both are very grateful. I doubt whether we would be worshiping anywhere on Sunday if it were not for Holy Wisdom! Thank you for your love, your courage and your spiritual leadership which has touched so many. May the Spirit continue to bless you…and all of our efforts together.”
Hospitality
Holy Wisdom is a place of welcome. We respect all people, and welcome guests with diverse views and customs. Reverence for all guests comes out of the Benedictine tradition of hospitality.
“Holy Wisdom Monastery’s hospitality restores hearts and souls as well as our earth’s vital living systems, embodied in the prairies and woodlands that provide refuge for our spirits as well as all the living creatures that inhabit this beautiful landscape.”
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“The silent retreat succeeded in giving me precious quiet time to center my concerns both spiritually and otherwise. I am more convinced than ever that the monastic world and particularly the Benedictine ambiance, the rule included, provide spiritual strength and comfort that I find nowhere else. A sense of community and loving care generates throughout the Monastery, nurtured by the faithful people in attendance and by its perfectly placed retreat center and monastery building surrounded by all that natural beauty and the beautiful creatures that wander its fields and prairies and lake. The fly over of hundreds of gulls on their way to Lake Mendota Saturday night at the lighting of the outside fire was a sign of something, I’m certain. I think miracles can happen there.”
Justice
Justice at Holy Wisdom means building right relationships. Justice begins with those we live and work with and extends to all who we encounter.
“Holy Wisdom Monastery is a safe home for people who walk with bare feet and an open heart.”
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“Holy Wisdom is my spiritual home. ‘That all may be One’ means everything to me. All means all people and all that makes up this planet, our home. When I look at the people at Sunday Assembly, I see the face of God. When I walk on the prairie, I feel the presence of God in every living thing. Thank you to all who have been part of making this community of communities possible. A special Thanks and Appreciation to the sisters who lived Holy Wisdom Monastery into existence.
Care for the Earth
Caring for the earth is part of our mission, rooted in Benedictine values of stability and respect for all of creation. The sisters have been caring for the land at Holy Wisdom for more than 70 years.
“I came to Holy Wisdom to hear from one of my favorite authors but was also deeply touched by the dedication to the restoration of the land on which it stands. I was not expecting this aspect of my retreat and found it deeply comforting and inspiring. I have left Holy Wisdom not only with the words of the speaker and connection with fellow retreatants, but with a deeper commitment to our Sacred Earth.”
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“My son was able to flourish with his nature questions due to the care and interest of the wonderful volunteers. They encouraged his enthusiasm and were so engaging with the children and the nature surrounding us. I always learn lots of things too as an adult.”
Thank You! Your Gift Makes a Difference
Thank you #GivingTuesday supporters for your generous gifts to Holy Wisdom Monastery!
With your gifts, our mission is stronger than ever. Thank you for helping us weave prayer, hospitality, justice and care for the earth into a shared way of life.
Contact us at 608-836-631, x120 or blf@holywisdommonastery.org with questions or if you’d rather donate over the phone.
Give Today!